


sow the stars

by voidfoxstarlight



Series: Inside A Whale [3]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Hair, M/M, Mentioned Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Nonbinary Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Other, Set in Episodes 159-160 | Scottish Safehouse Period (The Magnus Archives), Trans Martin Blackwood, jon has an undercut and martin discovers this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:20:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27361870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voidfoxstarlight/pseuds/voidfoxstarlight
Summary: A long time! always! my hand in your hairWill sow the stars of sapphire, pearl, ruby...—Her Hair, Charles BaudelaireIt isn’t until the third day in the safehouse that Martin notices.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: Inside A Whale [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1772746
Comments: 11
Kudos: 172





	sow the stars

It isn’t until the third day in the safehouse that Martin notices. They’re sitting on the couch together watching the telly, Jon leaning on Martin and slipping lower and lower until finally Martin says, “Jon, if you want to lay in my lap, you can.”

Jon’s face heats but he hides both his embarrassment and his grin in Martin’s thighs. A moment of quiet overtakes them as they stop talking and the movie transitions to a somber scene. 

Martin places his hand at the crown of Jon’s head, fingers making little scratching motions, and Jon has to close his eyes at the bliss of it all. His fingers work their way down. They reach about three-quarters of the way down his skull, then: “Wh—Jon, do you have an _undercut_?”

Jon, already well on his way to sleep, makes a half-startled, half-questioning noise.

Martin sweeps his hair to the side, revealing where his hair is shorn to a length of about half a centimeter. “When on earth did this happen?”

More awake now, Jon says, “Oh, um. A bit after the coffin?”

“But that was ages ago!”

“Yes, that is how time works,” Jon remarks, amused.

“Oh, hush, you. I just can’t believe I didn’t notice.”

“It’s not really noticeable unless I have my hair up.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Martin settles back into the couch and resumes his ministrations. “What made you want an undercut?”

“It, ah, it was an accident, actually.”

“S’that so?” The smile in his voice is audible.

“Daisy shaved her head after the coffin and I was feeling… overwhelmed, one night, so I thought I’d do the same. I’d cut away about… a third of what I have cut now before I realised I didn’t really want to cut my hair at all.”

“Oh, you poor thing.”

Jon cringes as he remembers, “Melanie found me having a bit of a breakdown in front of the sink. Told me I should either try to hide the short part with the rest of my hair until it grew out or make it into a proper undercut.”

“I would have expected you to hide it and grow it out.”

“Mm.” Jon rubs his thumb against Martin’s knee in time with Martin’s fingers in his hair. “I… I cut it right before I got hired at the Institute, did you know?”

“No.”

“I’d grown it out in uni before that. Figured I needed to look professional if I wanted to be taken seriously in my career, though, so…”

He’d cried after he left the salon. Not properly, just some sniffles and watery eyes, but the emotions were the same. Even thinking about it now, his throat tightens up.

“It was something of a comfort when I let it grow out again. Amidst the… trauma.” Jon cringes again at his own blunt words, but Martin lets out a snort of laughter.

“Mm. I know how that goes.”

Jon glances up at him with questioning eyes.

Martin runs his other hand though his own once-pink, now-white curls. “Gave myself a pixie cut in our bathroom when I was fifteen. Mum thought I’d gone mad.” He smiles tightly. “Universal queer experience, I guess.”

“Mm,” Jon agrees. He is quiet for a moment, then he says, “Do you like it?”

“I do. Do you?”

Jon _whoosh_ es out a breath. “It’s nice. I like my hair long, but it can get… boring? When I don’t usually style it. But this is nice.” He nuzzles Martin’s thigh. “I’m glad you like it too.”

**Author's Note:**

> The full poem the title comes from kinda objectifies the subject, but I like this part and I couldn't find a better title so


End file.
